Countdown
by Ree-Vance
Summary: [Time-Travel AU] Bad things happen to all-powerful psychics who mess with time... and Kusuo soon learns how everything can unravel in six months. (Told in Kokomi's POV for the first part)
1. Chapter 1

**Time to Incident 00:00:00**

_Silk sheets rustled underneath her, soft velvet gathering at her waist, goose bumps raising up her arms the lower the fabric went on her body._

Kokomi Teruhashi was the perfect pretty girl and God's favorite child. She was perfect in every single way both on the inside and on the outside. Being so perfect made her often feel that she was playing the game of life on easy mode. There was no obstacle that she couldn't overcome.

Well, except one.

The only thing that ever got her heart to race (in admiration or frustration she hadn't decided yet) was her aloof classmate Kusuo Saiki- a general all-around average unnoticeable plain guy. Except that he really wasn't any of those things.

_Lean fingers coming up her skin to pull away the cloth, gently sliding on her skin to feel its softness, her skin dimpling when the fingers applied pressure to hold her in place. _

He definitely used to be, or at least she thought that he used to be- weren't they in all the same classes their whole high school career? So why is that _now_ she suddenly couldn't take her eyes off him when they so easily swept past him before?

He wasn't particularly handsome (but she really didn't know, his glasses always hid his face from her), or the most athletic, or the top of the class, or good at singing, or playing an instrument, or rich, or _anything_! The only thing she knew about him was that he was _different_ from anyone else she had ever met in her whole life.

_Her blue hair fanned out on her pillow in a gentle cascade, the redness on her cheeks extended down to her slim neck, she pressed herself further into the pillows and reached her arms up to pull a pair of shoulders closer_.

He didn't acknowledge her like everyone else did. She never saw his eyes widen in surprise, never saw them flutter close in anticipation of a kiss from her, never saw them darken with desire… They sat so close together in class but he never turned his head to stare at her in the hope that their eyes would meet. He never hung around her shoe locker for the chance to walk her home. She had even been over at his house for Christmas and he never tried to catch her underneath a mistletoe.

It was maddening.

_Hot breath puffed against her bare neck, her eyes screwed shut and sweat spreading on her brow, her pink lips falling open and closed of their own accord, the bed dipping from the combined weight of two bodies. _

But what was more maddening than her past pursuit of the stoic teenager was her current situation. It was the kind of situation that perfect pretty girls knew about _of course_ but never thought about, or engaged in, otherwise they would ruin their perfect innocent pretty girl reputation (which was something that Kokomi would never stand for).

After two years of being denied, without any encouragement or support, it seemed that God had finally answered the prayers of his earth-bound angel.

_Footsteps creaked outside the room, a light turning on in the hallway with shadows moving along the bottom edge of the door, a large palm snapped up and covered her mouth- but didn't stop, she stared at the figure above her with wide but hopeful eyes._

"_Sh, we're not done yet. I can't have you making too much noise and putting us in a sticky situation."_

At least, Kokomi hoped it was God. _A smirking face moved away from her shoulder into her line of vision, bangs stuck to the male's forehead from exertion._ As she stared into her partner's eyes, she thought briefly that it could also have been the devil that was listening to her all along.

School was boring, but almost everything was really. She never showed this on her face of course, her persona was far too strong for that. She was the image of perfection staring attentively ahead in class, legs crossed perfectly beneath her chair, hand gracefully writing down notes and ignoring any stares that were being directed towards her. On the outside, she looked like the ideal student. On the inside, her mind was a blank space focusing on counting the amount of smudge marks on the black board.

It would be lunch time soon, a welcome break from the droning voice of their teacher. She didn't blame the teacher for losing the attention of the students; the teacher wasn't the perfect pretty girl after all and couldn't rival her for their attention.

She threw a quick glance at Chiyo's direction, who caught it and gave her a hidden thumbs up.

Today their masterplan was to convince the boys to eat outside with them, they had been studying the weather reports all week to determine the best day. Kokomi had especially packed coffee jelly and other sweets to lure a _certain_ guy into eating with them.

"Alright, we'll continue this tomorrow." The teacher announced packing up their materials as the chime for the school lunch sounded. Chiyo jumped up out of her seat, and Kokomi followed suit in a more controlled graceful manner.

Their plan of attack? Aren Kubayasu. He wasn't super gross like Nendou, or the object of either their affections- so he was the perfect guy to approach without appearing suspicious.

"Kubayasu-kun!" Chiyo flounced on his desk, "would you like to eat lunch with Kokomi-chan and I?" The other teen's eyes widened.

"O-oh! Teruhashi-san!" Kokomi smiled gently, one male down. "I'd love to, but the guys and I already have plans for lunch."

"Oh no," Kokomi said convincingly, of course they had planned on his saying that. "we really wanted to share some of the treats we baked… do you think they would mind terribly if we intruded?" She raised her hands up in a cute begging fashion.

Ten minutes later found them arranged in a circle with lunch boxes taken out. Kokomi had placed herself next to Saiki (who hadn't protested as hard as he usually did), then next to herself was Chiyo, followed by Kaido, Kubayasu, and Nendou who sat on Saiki's other side. They had all began eating their lunches and chit-chatting about the classed they had that day, but Kokomi noticed that Saiki seemed to be eying her lunch box expectedly. _Did he hear Chiyo-chan and I talking about the sweets before class?_ _I hadn't planned on bringing them out until a little later when the classroom emptied out… I don't want to be swarmed by my followers for a taste of my cooking_.

Kokomi tried to communicate in the silent manner that all girls did to Chiyo what she thought was the best time to bring out the sweets, but the message went un-heard as Chiyo was occupied by listening to Kaido re-counting Dark Reunion's latest plot against him. How she was attracted to him was a mystery that Kokomi would never be able to solve.

Not that she could judge really.

"So!" Nendou's booming voice broke her from her thoughts. "Teruhashi-san! I heard that you and Yumehara made sweets for us to try!"

"Nendou!" Kubayasu hissed, swatting at the much larger boy's arm. "Don't be rude!"

"What? I thought they wanted to share them with us?" A blank look crossed over his ugly face.

"Yeah but you have to wait for them to offer." The purple hair teen said exasperated. _I wonder how many times they have to correct Nendou?_

'_A lot.'_ A soft voice next to her said.

"Hmm? Did you say something Saiki?" She thought that he just answered her silent question- maybe she accidentally said it aloud? The glasses wearing teen shook his head slightly. _Oh great, now I'm imagining his voice_ she thought to herself.

"It's okay Kubayasu-san." Chiyo said happily. "We were planning on sharing them later but we can share them now, right Kokomi-chan?"

"Yeah, we made plenty so you can each have more than one." She looked down demurely. "I don't bake that often so please don't be too harsh if it doesn't taste perfect." She sighed. _Of course it will taste perfect, I didn't attend private cooking lessons for nothing after all!_

"O-Oh! Teruhashi-san! Don't say that!"

"I'm sure it will taste perfect!"

"T-The best we ever had!" The three boys responded how she expected them to, but the male to her left said nothing and instead moved the food around in his lunch box to make a space for the treat. _Tch!_

The girls passed the sweets around their small circle. They had prepared cookies, short cakes, and small tarts. They smelled heavenly, and the ones made by Kokomi appeared to have a glimmer to them as the boys bit into them. The treat she worked the hardest on however was still hidden in her bag.

Saiki reached out to take a chocolate chip cookie but stopped when Kokomi placed a soft hand on his arm.

"A-Actually Saiki-kun," she whispered, eying the others in the circle. "I made you something special, if you don't mind." He retracted his arm back from the pile, Kokomi wondered briefly how he had grabbed one of the cookies without her noticing. He placed the cookie on his lunch box and turned towards Kokomi with a knowing look in his eye (which she decided to dismiss).

"It's coffee jelly." She continued. "I remember how much you like it, and I thought that you would be the perfect judge for it." Her hands reached into her bag to pull out the carefully wrapped parcel. _Stop shaking! It's just coffee jelly! He'll eat it even if it tastes awful- which I know it won't so…_ She took a deep breath and presented the treat to Saiki as if her momentary loss of confidence never occurred.

She wasn't disappointed with his reaction, for once.

Saiki took the treat from her hands as if she were handing him a newborn child, or the Holy Grail. Behind his glasses, his eyes shone with a hungry gleam; happiness radiating out of his every pore. He bit into the treat and his entire loner personality melted into pure bliss. Around the spoon she had prepared with the jelly his lips turned up into a happy smile.

Kokomi watched him with amusement for a moment before quickly turning away to her own meal. _He looks really cute when he's happy but somehow, I feel like he'll not want to be watched right now_. It was hard to tear her eyes away from how obviously pleased her crush was, but she managed to do so. Her perfect image restored- except for the knowing glint in Chiyo's eyes.

Too soon they had to clean up their lunches, and Kokomi's trash was carried away by a trio of grateful boys. Chiyo had scampered back to her seat which was closer to Kaido's than Kokomi's. Kokomi took out her notebook for the next class, and silently congratulated herself on a job well done. _I'll have to make more coffee jelly next time! Maybe I can experiment with new flavors_. She leaned her head on her plan and doodled little coffee jellies in her notebook. _I'm not sure when I'll have time to do it- but it will be worth it to see the look on Saiki-kun's face. _Her eyes softened. _Making him happy is all that really matters… _her head snapped up at her own (false?) thoughts. _T-to get him to say oh wow of course!_

'_Thank you.' _

"hmm?" She lifted her head up towards Saiki's desk. She could have _sworn_ that she heard him thank her… but he wasn't even looking over at her. She did however notice a small smile on his lips, and smiled to herself.

Small victories.

**Time to Incident 180:04:32 **

A/N Hey guys! I hope you like the first chapter of this fic! I'm planning on this being a slow-build story with several small chapters leading up to the _situation_ in the beginning of this chapter! I also plan on including the surrounding characters a little more heavily; this story takes place at some point before the events of "season 3" meaning that no one knows about Saiki's powers. This is also going to be slightly AU so there will be some elements of the story that I'll be changing.

Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

"Doesn't it bother you at all Kokomi-chan?" Chiyo asked, swirling the ice in her drink with her straw. The two girls were sitting in a booth at a popular café in the mall; they had been shopping all morning spending their Christmas money. Kokomi wasn't looking for anything specific but based off the amount of dresses and bikinis she had seen Chiyo try on the brunette had an occasion in mind. Currently they weren't talking about whatever Chiyo was shopping for though.

"What do you mean?" Kokomi asked her friend with a confused look. She was only half-faking too; perfect pretty girls weren't bothered by anything except rudeness and she couldn't remember anything specific happening to them today. The bluenette glanced around the café to see if she could spot anything out of the ordinary.

"Rifuta-san _of course_! What else could I be talking about?"

"Oh…" _How to answer this without letting Chiyo know what I'm really like? _"I don't think there's anything for me to really be upset with? She hasn't done anything to me." _Besides attempt to de-throne me as PK Academy's goddess. _

"Bah!" Chiyo threw her hands up. "She's so annoying! Trying to be like you all the time, are you saying that you don't mind someone copying you? If it were me, I'd go crazy."

"It's always better to be true to yourself, but they do say that flattery is the highest compliment one can pay… so it's really quite sweet of her." She finished her statement with a bashful smile. "So if anything then I'm grateful to her for the high praise." As she hoped, choruses of 'oh wow!' filtered through the café by anyone who witnessed her smile.

Chiyo however rolled her eyes and sucked on her straw (not that it bothered Kokomi, she wasn't after girls).

After they paid a heavily discounted rate, they continued to meander through the shops that the mall had to offer. Chiyo modeled several different outfits for Kokomi, who performed the sacred duty of acting as a paparazzi for her friend. After their misunderstanding earlier in the year the two girls had formed a fast friendship as compatriots in love. She was the first person Kokomi would call a friend- she couldn't have a connection with anyone who worshipped her after all. Gods didn't talk about boys with their followers. Then again, Kokomi didn't really talk to anyone about anything.

As she watched Chiyo twirl around the dressing room in a very frilly yellow dress, "Oh it looks horrid doesn't it?", her mind drifted to her other classmates.

_Who else would I call a friend? Mera-chan is sort of a friend I guess, we don't really hang out often but that's mostly because she's working all the time. I don't know Aiura-san at all… I think Chiyo-chan does but I'm a little wary of her. Doesn't she like Saiki-kun too? Not that anyone can actually rival me in looks, but I have seen them talking together sometimes along with that weird boy from the next class over. _

Chiyo laughed wholeheartedly when Kokomi pulled out another hideous dress for Chiyo to try on, it was a dark green with bright purple and red stitched across the waist. Underneath the skirt was at least two feet of bright blue teal tulle. "Oh no Kokomi-chan!" She wheezed. "I can't! It's so awful!"

"I won't take any pictures! I promise! You have to." Kokomi said in between giggles. Chiyo accepted the dress with a red-face and her laughter could be heard even after she closed the door along with comments like 'who would even buy this?' and 'I don't even see a price tag! Did you sneak this in?'.

Her mind continued. _I'm not really close to any of the boys in my class, for obvious reasons. Even though I just spent Christmas at Saiki-kun's house with Hairo-san, Nendou-san, and Kaido-san I'm not very familiar with them. Their antics are hilarious though, I wonder how Saiki-kun manages to keep a straight face around them? I like Hairo-san and admire his work-ethic… his competitive spirit gets along with mine but we're not really in the same friend group. Nendou has a good heart but he's just awful to be around really- and Kaido-san hasn't moved beyond the 8__th__ grade. He's really cute with Chiyo-chan though… _A smile crossed her lips. _Kubayasu-san is an easy person to talk to, but sometimes I get the impression that he's a rough sort of character. I wonder how they're all friends with Saiki-kun, they seem so different! _

"What are you looking at?" The beautiful girl asked Chiyo some time later when they were wandering through a department store. In Chiyo's hands was a recipe book titled 'Meals under 500 Yen'.

"I was thinking of buying it for Chisato-chan, she's always working so hard and I'm not sure she eats that well." Chiyo snickered. "Although maybe it all goes to her chest."

"Chiyo-chan!" Kokomi giggled. While neither girl could be called small in the bustier department, they both didn't hold a candle to their well-endowed friend.

"You were thinking it Kokomi-chan." Chiyo smirked. "Anyway, I thought she might appreciate a book like this to help her paychecks stretch a little farther."

"Hopefully it doesn't have too many pictures in it, she might eat the book instead." Kokomi called after her friend as she moved towards the cashier. Chiyo laughed and stuck her tongue out at Kokomi.

_Chiyo-chan is so sweet, I'm glad she's my friend_. Kokomi looked over the other book titles as she waited for Chiyo to come back. Her fingers rested lightly on the rest of the cookbooks. _I didn't realize she was so close to Mera-san though… I guess I'm not her only friend. _A serene smile stayed in place on the teen's face, but behind it was a melancholic frown. _That hurts a little bit._

Her eyes landed on a book titled 'How to Make Friends and Have Everyone Love You'. Her hands drifted over to the book, her fingers curled under the dust cover to peek at the contents. Before she could lift it, she heard Chiyo's footsteps approaching her and snapped her hands back to her sides. _What was I about to do?_

"Ready to go home? I think I've found everything I wanted." The short-haired girl said, lifting up her several shopping bags.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go."

_Perfect Pretty Girls don't need friends. _

**Time to Incident 173:06:59**

Kokomi idly listened to the television playing in the background as she did her homework in her room later the same day. Her lone shopping bag was resting against her desk. All she ended up buying was a new pencil case with the silly character that Saiki's kid neighbor liked. It reminded her of the amusing day they had at the theme park when Saiki was forced to act as the superhero and save her from the villain. She didn't know if she would ever use it (did perfect pretty girls like superheroes?) but it would be a fun trinket for her regardless.

Her mechanical pencil scratched lightly against her notebook, her feet tapped underneath her as her brain worked to solve the problems in her textbook. Kokomi had many secrets, and one of them was how hard she studied. It was her popular excuse to beg off dates from her admirers- she doubted that any of them knew she was telling the truth. _Well, I don't think they think I'm capable of lying so maybe they do think it's true._

Her schedule was a rigorous one, which her room reflected. In one corner of her room was stashed an assortment of binders that contained information about everyone in school so that she would be able to keep up with all the likes, dislikes, blood types, star signs, and birthdays of anyone just in case she was ever asked. Across from her bed was a small assortment of at-home work out equipment, which was often stored away secretly.

Her desk was next to her bed, and above her desk hung a large calendar with important deadlines for school, her social life, and personal upkeep. For example, every third Sunday was sauna day where Kokomi would go to a private gym to rest in the sauna for exactly two hours. Once a week she would apply a chemical peel mask to her face and then avoid being in the sun for the rest of the day. Saturday was her rest day from her daily workouts; Wednesday was Ab workout day and Tuesday night was grocery shopping night to make all her meals for the next week.

Sometimes it became _almost _too much to keep up with the demands of being the perfect pretty girl- but Kokomi Teruhashi was the perfect combination of stubborn and resilient. She never broke down and would never break down.

Makoto often joked that he should hire her a personal manager so that she wouldn't have to do it herself all the time, but that idea would quickly become derailed by his sister-complex induced jealousy of someone else spending so much time with her and knowing what she was doing every second of every day.

Kokomi's drying nails searched through her textbooks for her foreign language one as she continued her homework for the next week. She was often ahead of schedule for their assigned homework although this fact she didn't publicize. Perfect pretty girls weren't too book-smart, even though Kokomi could have easily been in the top of their class. She was content being near the top, close enough that her fans would say 'brains and beauty? She's got it all!' but not high enough that they would say 'oh she's just a hot nerd'. Boys were such fickle things, and that arbitrary line of _too_ smart seemed to change every week.

Truthfully, she liked learning. It was her second favorite competition (after herself versus the world); herself versus who she was yesterday. She also liked to read, whenever her parents came home on their rare visits she would have them bring her books from their far off adventures.

Her favorite kind of book were romance novels, but she also liked mystery ones. She loved to see how the author would spin the story next, where the next twist and turns were- and obviously if she could figure it all out before it was revealed. Her television was playing a re-run currently of one of her favorite mystery shows - although it was a little corny - 'Psych'. Her mother had introduced her to the America TV show sometime last year, and she fell in love with it immediately. It was a gag TV show mostly, but the premise of a main character with fake psychic powers that he used to solve crime with his superior detective skills intrigued her.

He used his 'powers' in the best way too- to help others and to solve crimes. If you had powers, then it was better to use them to make the world a little bit of a better place. Kokomi held respect for those who put their own time and energy in to making the world brighter for everyone else (which is what she did obviously by existing).

She placed her pencil down and sighed. If she didn't go to bed soon then she wouldn't get her full 8 hours of sleep and her eyes would show it the next morning. The blue-haired teen quickly changed into her silk pajamas and climbed into her comfy bed. She didn't need to worry about her older brother sneaking into her room; Makoto was off shooting some movie or something. She was home alone (again).

Kokomi checked her phone for any messages that she might have missed before she went to bed. She had three of them. _Though I'm sure that the number would be much higher if more people knew I owned a phone and had the courage to ask for the contact information_.

Chiyo Yumehara

Hey girl! 😊 Do you want to go see a movie with me this weekend?

I'm thinking of asking Kaido-kun to see it with me

But I'm too nervous to ask him one on one! /

Please help lol

Sent 7:42 PM

Annoying (

My beautiful Kokomi! I am so sorry but I won't be able to come

Home this week like I told you, my STUPID co-stars

Keep messing up their scenes so I'm going to home next week

But if you need me big-brother will come racing home to be with you!

Sent 6:08 PM

Mom

Hey honey I transferred some money into your account to use for Mika's has a vet appointment

This weekend, hope you and Makoto are getting along OK

Love from France Mom 3

Sent 5:30 PM

Kokomi quickly typed out responses to her mother and Chiyo, but instead of a word response sent a rolling eyes emoji to her brother. _Seriously he needs to get over this weird older brother thing, I don't know what he's going to do when I actually get a boyfriend_. Her cheeks darkened. _Not that he approves of Saiki-kun anyway… _

"Come here Mika Mika." She called out as she turned out the light. A small 'pwwrp!' answered and the lovely face of her cat popped onto her bed. Mika was a beautiful purebred Persian. She had snow-white fur and eyes the color of the ocean. She matched Kokomi herself perfectly and was her one constant companion at home.

"I guess we're both going to have a fun weekend, hmm Mika?" She scratched the cat behind her ears. "I'm going to the movies and you're going to the vet." The cat meowed in protest, how was the vet supposed to fun? "Oh hush, you never know what's going to happen." Kokomi said as she sunk further into her bed.

_Although, if Kaido-san agrees to go to the movies with us then he'll probably bring some of his friends too. Which means that it would be more of a group thing- but if Saiki-kun shows up then I can put up with being in a dark movie theater with Nendou-san for three hours! _

**Time to Incident 172:11:45 **

A/N Here's the second chapter, I felt like the first chapter didn't give a whole lot of development to the story so I wanted to push out the second chapter as quickly as I could. Also, based off the thoughts of a kind reviewers (thanks!) I've decided to lower the rating of the story from M to T for right now. There will be mature elements beginning in the middle of the story (maybe about 7 chapters from now) but I'll give plenty of warning before that happens.

The TV show Kokomi mentions is completely real and very funny, if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. It's mentioned that Kokomi has a cat, but I don't think we ever see her so I decided to make her up- if this is wrong please let me know!

Hope you enjoyed this installment.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days passed uneventfully. She didn't have time to make any more sweets, even though she really tried to, so she had no excuse to talk to Saiki more than social protocol dictated. She sat slightly behind him and to the right. Privately, she had a theory that the seating wasn't alphabetical at all but just so that she – Teruhashi – would be sat closer to the back in the hopes of the male students would look at the teacher and not at her (if they were it would be easier to catch them).

She had wanted to coordinate with Chiyo on how to approach Saiki with attending the movies with them this weekend, but the shorter girl had been wrapped up with Auira's forecast for the date. From what she over-heard, it was constantly flickering back and forth between marriage and disaster. Kokomi's options of people to talk to were limited to A) Chiyo or B) Saiki but option B had the annoying caveat of needing an innocent reason to talk to the pink haired teen.

There was a rare option C which on Friday Kokomi decided to employ out of a sense of lone-_boredom _during class breaks. She was the assistant class representative after all so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for her to talk to the class representative.

"Hairo-san, do you have a moment?" The teen looked up from his desk surprised. He had been writing in his notebook furiously as she approached him. She leaned over him slightly to take a better look.

"Ah, Teruhashi-san." He said easily, leaning back in his seat to move out of her personal space. His biceps flexed as her crossed his arms in front of him, but Kokomi figured that the energetic male did it unconsciously. "What can I do for you?" Hairo was another person on the shortlist of people who seemed to be unaffected by her beauty, the reason for that she hadn't been able to figure out yet.

She pushed some of her hair behind her ear, it was blocking her view of his plain red notebook. _Was that his favorite color?_ "Do you mind if I ask what you are working on? I can't remember any assignments being due the next period." Hairo reached forward and swiveled his notebook so that the blue-haired teen could read it more clearly.

"They're my training plans for the Tennis club. We have a big match in the next few weeks- I want to make sure we're in tip-top shape!" He pointed excitedly to different exercises on the page. On the next few pages he had listed out the strengths and weaknesses of each of the players on the team; he had created a regime for each player to help them improve.

"That's impressive, Hairo-san. I didn't realize that you put so much work into the Tennis club. I thought you were the captain of the Judo club?" Kokomi asked honestly, her competitive spirit firing up at how detailed Hairo's plans were. _It's almost making me feel like I could complete this crazy schedule._

Hairo laughed, exposing white teeth as he did so. "I am that as well. I'm involved in many clubs- the captain has an exam or something coming up in the next week so I volunteered to help him out with the planning." He smiled, closing his notebook. "I just really love giving my all to something you know? Just completely throwing myself in there and seeing what comes out. Gives me a rush!"

"I completely understand." She said easily, thinking of her own efforts to stay on top. "Thank you for sharing that with me."

"Oh anytime- we're friends Teruhashi-san." Kokomi faltered, surprised. _He thinks of me as a friend? _

"Well…" She couldn't help herself, her native flirting nature coming out. "If we're friends then I think it's okay if you call me chan, right Hairo-kun?" She smiled at the sitting boy. For a moment, she felt the familiar wave of jealous stares from her male classmates, and maybe a few of the female ones. Buried beneath that wave (and general noises of displeasure) she thought that she heard something snapping but couldn't be sure. The wave receded as quickly as it came, Hairo was a well-liked member of their class and was one of the few members of the school that was on her same popularity-level (of course she was still _more_ popular) so no one was able to hold a grudge towards him for long.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right Teruhashi-chan." The bell signaling the end of the break period chimed above them. "Didn't you have something you wanted to talk about?"

"It was nothing, forget it." She smiled and began moving gracefully to her seat in the back. As she passed Saiki's desk, she had the oddest sensation that someone was watching her. She turned her head to look down at him, but he was looking at Nendou and nodding. Nendou seemed surprised at this response, but whatever he said to Saiki was lost as Kokomi hadn't stopped moving to her desk.

_That was odd. I'm usually never wrong about someone watching me… but maybe I'm losing my touch. It's so common after all. _

She watched Saiki discretely for the rest of the class period, but the young man never turned his head to look at her.

**Time to Incident 162:08:43**

* * *

"Mika Mika Mika." Kokomi cooed. "Stop hiding! I know you're out there." The beautiful girl set the cat-carrier down gently on the living room table and sighed. It wouldn't take them that long to get to the vet, but if they didn't leave soon then they would be late!

Silence hung in the room. She had closed all the doors in the house so that after she thoroughly searched each one Mika couldn't scamper into a different one.

"Honestly Mika-chan," she continued. "It's not even going to be that bad it's just like, your kitten physical or something." Her sharp eyes spotted a flash of movement from underneath the couch. She crawled on all fours and peeked underneath.

Staring back at her were a pair of angry blue eyes. "Mika." She admonished. "You're being very naughty and naughty cats don't get treats." Mika's fluffy head twisted slightly as if she could understand her owner and was contemplating the words being said to her. Kokomi smiled and jiggled the can of cat treats so that the cuddly brat could hear them.

"pwwrp?" Mika asked, inching closer to Kokomi (and unknowingly the cage).

"Yes, yes treats Mika, come here girl I won't hurt you…" She laid one treat out directly in front of Mika's nose. "I won't trick you darling…"

"I'm sorry, but the vet is on lunch currently and won't be back for about 15 minutes." The young receptionist told Kokomi apologetically thirty minutes later. Kokomi drummed her fingers on the counter and sighed.

"No, it's fine I understand. Is there a waiting area I can sit at?"

"Yes, its right around the corner. There's already a few other patients waiting, but no dogs so I think you should be okay." The receptionist winked and pointed towards a nicely decorated waiting area in a corner of the office. It had a television playing an animal-based TV show in one corner, a display case of various treats, and an odd collection of comfy (and fur covered) chairs. There was a pair of children with an older tired looking man sitting between them holding a small bird in a cage, a young couple alternating between cooing at their hamster and each other, and a middle-aged looking woman holding a cat with the strangest markings Kokomi had ever seen.

This woman however was someone that Kokomi recognized immediately and judging by the brightening of the woman's face she recognized Kokomi as well.

"Teruhashi-san!" Saiki's mother called, indicating to the red cushioned seat next to her. "I haven't seen you in ages dear! How are you?"

"I'm doing well, staying busy with school and all." She sat herself down in the chair and placed Mika's carrier on the floor by her feet. "I didn't know that your family owned a cat?"

"Oh Amp-kun?" The older Saiki said happily lifting the angry-looking tabby to show Kokomi. "He's Ku-chan's cat more than mine really, Ku found him one day by our house and we've been taking care of him ever since!" She smiled, then frowned. "Shoot, I forgot that he gets so embarrassed when I call him that, you can't tell him I called him Ku-chan okay? It'll be our secret." Kokomi giggled when she winked at her.

"You can count on me, Saiki-san. Why didn't uh, um.." She blushed, twiddling her fingers together. _Get it together- if she can call him Ku-chan then you can call him by his own name with his mother! _

Saiki Kurumi's eyes twinkled as she watched Kokomi stutter. "Do you mean Kusuo dear?"

"Ah, y-yes. Did he have plans today?" _Please God let her say no_, she thought to herself in a quick prayer.

Her companion sighed and leaned back in the chair setting Amp down by Mika's cat carrier. Amp quickly walked over to investigate Mika, who hissed in response and backed away as far as she could from the less-refined cat.

"He did in the morning, he said that he had to go catch bugs with Nendou-kun. Which surprised me because Kusuo _hates_ bugs- oh don't tell him I told you that either!" She said quickly as an afterthought. "He was coming home as I was leaving with Amp, so I don't think he has anything else planned." The older woman smirked and leaned closer to Kokomi excitedly. "Don't tell me that you guys were going to go on a date today and my rude son stood you up?"

Kokomi's face flushed. _She's not that far off though…. But I never got to even ask him if he would go with me. _"Well, I wanted to ask K-Kusuo if he would go to the movies tonight with some of our friends but-"

"He'll go!" The brunette jumped up out of her seat, startling both Amp and Mika who seemed to have reached an accord. "I'll go call the house right now to let him know that he's got a date tonight!"

"Ah- wait-" Kokomi called half-heartedly after his mother, but she had already rounded the corner and was asking to borrow the phone from the receptionist. The teen lowered her hand and placed it over her mouth in a 'oh no' position; this was only to cover the triumphant smirk that had spread across her lips.

_Hook line and sinker. See you tonight Saiki-kun._

The two lovely blue-eyed creatures got called into their appointment soon after that, but Kurumi had waved them off saying that she would meet them at her house later to make sure that Kusuo went on the date. As they left, it looked as if Amp was sending love hearts to Mika, but the proud Persian turned her head away from the orange cat. _Poor Amp, she's so out of your league. _

**Time to Incident 161:05:32**

* * *

Saiki, the pink haired one, crossed his arms annoyed as Kokomi sent him one of her patented Angel smiles. It didn't work, but at this point she wasn't really expecting it to. She won already and they both knew it. Mika however, was an angry ball of fluff on Kokomi's lap.

Her cool blue eyes were glaring at both Kokomi, and the love-sick cat scratching the glass door leading to the Saiki's backyard. 'You're a traitor' her eyes seemed to be saying.

"Don't worry about it Teruhashi-chan. I'll watch Mika-chan while you and Ku," who shot a glare to his mother "I mean while you and _Kusuo _are at the movies tonight."

"You can call me Kokomi-chan, Saiki-san." Her Angel smile seemed to work on at least one Saiki, because the other woman blushed and twirled a piece of her hair around her finger.

"Call me okaa-san, Kokomi-chan. Right Kusuo?" His mother winked.

'_We're leaving now.'_ Came the hard voice of Kusuo in reply, he stood up and started to walk out the door without waiting for Kokomi who stood up at more sedate place and bowed to Kurumi.

"Please don't let Mika eat too many treats, she'll do anything she can get away with."

"Please don't let Kusuo eat too many sweets, he'll eat anything he can get his hands on." The older woman echoed back bowing slightly. She giggled and scratched out a number on a piece of paper. "Don't let him be too much of a bully to you either dear. This is our home number so you can call us for updates about Mika if you'd like." Kurumi winked and flipped the paper over. "This one is Ku's cell-phone… in case you get separated."

"Thank you." Kokomi said, tucking away the paper securely in her pocket and memorizing the number written on the back. "If I don't catch up to him soon, I may need it."

Her fear was unfounded as the younger Saiki was waiting for her just beyond the gate. When she neared him, he turned and started walking to the train station to take them to the mall. He was wearing a pair of long khaki pants and a dark blue hoodie, underneath the hoodie she saw a peek of a black shirt. It was a casual look, and Kokomi hated herself for how attractive he looked to her in it. _I wonder if he thinks I look nice_? She thought.

She pulled at her skirt to smooth out any wrinkles. Today she was wearing a soft pink skirt that reached her knees with a lacy white shirt and nude kitten heels. She also had a gray pea coat with her, but she brought that mostly just in case the theater was cold. Right now, as she was examining Saiki, she was feeling very warm.

Saiki didn't seem to notice her noticing him, nor did he seem to notice her. In fact, the only time she knew that he knew she was there was when he _briefly _held the door of the station open for her. She mumbled her thanks and slipped by him, careful not to touch any part of his body. _For anyone else that would be the highlight of their life but for this boy it wouldn't even register. _Right after she thought that, it looked like Saiki smirked- but it was gone before she could be sure.

They sat next to each other on the train in silence.

Normally, Kokomi would try to start a conversation with the silent teen however tonight he seemed especially reluctant to be in her presence so she wasn't sure if that would be a good idea. She sighed (earning Saiki some glares from the other passengers) and leaned her head against the window of the train car. _I wonder if he's mad at his mom for forcing him to go with me? It can't hurt just to go have fun at the movies with a cute girl and some of his friends._ She closed her eyes thinking of her own schedule. _But then again, I don't know what's going on in his life so maybe he had something else he wanted to do tonight and I'm being the rude one. _Saiki shifted next to her, but when Kokomi opened her eyes he was staring straight ahead again with a blank expression on his face.

Kokomi took a deep breath and steeled her nerves. "Saiki-kun, I'm sorry if your mother forced you to come out with me tonight." _Even though that's what I wanted, this isn't how I wanted it to happen. _"You don't have to, I'll tell your mother that I got called away, so we had to cancel it." She bit her lip and looking down sadly.

'_It's fine.' _

"Huh?" She asked looking up, Saiki's eyes were trained on some point just above her shoulder. "You don't mind?" He crossed his arms and looked away again.

'_I said it's fine. I just didn't think I was the person you wanted to invite.' _Sometimes it was weird how she couldn't tell if his mouth was moving when he was talking, but that wasn't her current focus right now.

"What do you mean? Who did you think I wanted to invite?" _It was going to be you, it was always going to be you. _

The train's automatic announcer loudly interrupted them, the doors hissed open in front of them letting in the noises of the busy train station.

'_This is our stop come on.'_ Saiki said pulling Kokomi to her feet and out of the train.

"W-Wha-" but she couldn't say anything more, the only thing she was able to focus on was the feeling of his hand holding hers.

**Time to Incident 161:03:45**

* * *

[a/n] Thank you for all your kind reviews! If you noticed a change in formatting for this chapter that's because I noticed that fanfiction was deleting a lot of stuff that I had on word- so that's my bad haha.

One of the reviewers mentioned that today was their birthday, so I was trying to pump this out in time to be a birthday gift.

Thank you for everyone who reviewed. I won't be able to post this weekend so instead expect a longer chapter on Monday to make up for that 😊

Please let me know what you think of this chapter's developments. (Wouldn't Teruhashi and Hairo be like, the best BFFS ever?)


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm surprised, how did you get him here Kokomi-chan?" Chiyo asked once the girls found their seats in the packed theater. Despite Saiki's presence not being discussed by the two girls initially, Chiyo jumped into the situation without missing a beat so that Kaido wouldn't be aware that Saiki had never actually agreed to go out with them tonight. Both girls knew that part of the reason Kaido had agreed was to be able to spend more time with the elusive male, but if he was present Chiyo didn't mind the reason behind it too much. There was plenty of time to woo him in a dark theater.

The group of teens had quickly settled on a movie, one that Kaido and Chiyo had agreed on while they were waiting for Kokomi, and the late arrivals didn't make any fuss over it. Kokomi wasn't sure what movie she had agreed to see; Saiki had paid for her ticket and ignored any of her protests (it was heavily discounted anyway).

Chiyo and Kokomi had gone to choose their seats while Kaido and Saiki got snacks for the movie. Judging by the bright-eyed look in Kaido's eye, he was eager to tell Saiki his latest alleyway attack of Dark Reunion and had suggested the arrangement. The two girls had selected seats a few rows forward from the back of the theater. They strategically saved the two seats besides them so that they would be sitting next to each other and their companion of choice.

"You make me sound like some sort of awful vixen Chiyo-chan." Kokomi said with a pout. _She's not that far off though, since I did trick him into coming with me. But what was with the hand holding? _

Chiyo rolled her eyes and crossed her legs in a huff. "Okay fine, I thought you didn't have the chance to ask him to come? He's not exactly the most socially inclined guy." Kokomi fought down a sudden wave of heat at the insult towards Saiki but took a deep breath through her nostrils to calm down. _She's just confident because Kaido agreed to go out with us. _

"I ran into his mother and she basically ordered him to go with us." The pretty girl sighed. "I don't think he even wants to be here at all, so spending two hours in a dark theater is going to suck."

"Oh, don't say that." Chiyo said dismissively, keeping her eyes trained on the door for the appearance of her crush. "You're hot, and everyone knows that, so there's no way that any straight guy would be dreading the thought of spending this much time with you. Plus, everyone knows that movie theaters are prime make out spots."

_Yeah except for this guy in particular doesn't seem to even notice that I'm a girl. I'm probably just some genderless blob to him. That hand holding incident was probably just to get me off the train faster. _"I'm not planning on throwing myself at him Chiyo-chan." Chiyo smirked at her.

"I don't see why not, that's what I'm planning on doing." Kokomi held a hand to her face to cover up her giggles. Chiyo laughed in response. "What? I'm serious. I'm not going to waste an opportunity."

"Y-You can't be serious." Kokomi said with a smile that caused at least three guys further ahead of them to turn their heads. "You're not like that."

"Yeah I know." The brown-haired girl said with a blush. "But that doesn't mean that I don't think about it."

"Well, you better keep those thoughts to yourself since they're coming this way." Kokomi said placing her hand on her friends arm and turning her to the other entrance. Kaido spotted them first and began to nervously walk over to the two teens- in each hand he held a soda.

"I told him that we should go out to dinner afterwards… better deal that way." Chiyo whispered in her ear after seeing her confused look at him carrying just drinks. Saiki in comparison had a small popcorn and what appeared to be one of every candy offered at the stand. The stack didn't seem like it was very stable, but nothing fell somehow so Kokomi figured that he was really good at balancing things.

As planned, Saiki sat on her left and Kaido sat on Chiyo's right. The latter began an eager conversation about the movie they were going to watch, Kokomi tuned them out and focused on her partner instead.

"Should I be concerned about you getting a sugar rush?" She asked easily, picking up a package of chocolate and shaking it gently. "Seems like there's a lot in here, I don't think I've ever seen you eat this many sweets before." She set the box back down in his pile and fiddled with her skirt. "But I guess I'm not all that surprised." The pinkette didn't respond to her, choosing instead to start opening his packages.

"How was bug catching with Nendou-san this morning?"

'_Awful.'_ Came the soft reply around a mouthful of gummies.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't know that you liked to catch bugs."

'_I don't.' Then why the hell was he out there catching them? _Kokomi bit her lip; another dead-end in conversation.

"What do you think you'll do tomorrow?" She asked, angling her head in one of her patented pretty-girl poses. Saiki, of course, paid her no mind.

'_This and that probably.'_

"What does this and that include?" She persisted, determined to make some sort of conversation with her classmate. Saiki shrugged and started eating his sour gummy worms.

_Fine then. _She thought. _If you don't want to talk to me then I won't talk to you. _She turned to talk to Chiyo, but her friend was absorbed in explaining some fantasy movie to an eager Kaido. The lights began to dim. Kokomi sighed and settled into her seat.

_You aren't supposed to talk in movie theaters anyway. _She thought out of frustration. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Saiki smirk, but it was gone when she turned to look.

Thus began the most frustrating two hours of her life. Throughout the movie, which was a not-very good sci-fi movie, she kept seeing Saiki turn and look at her from the glint of his glasses- but he would turn away before she could catch his gaze. If she held her position then he would maintain a stubborn glare at the screen, refusing to acknowledge her gaze. It was only when she looked away that he would look at her again.

_Then _he would do this weird thing with his snacks. He kept a small pile of them in a spare cup he got in the cup holder they shared. He never touched this pile but would randomly add more snacks into it as if it were for her (which it should have been since he was supposed to get snacks for her too). Kokomi however was frustrated by his looking/not looking thing and refused to touch the snacks he was maybe-offering. She heard him chuckle at one point when she moved her hands to underneath her jacket just to emphasize that she wasn't going to eat them, but _again_ when she turned to look at him, he was a stone statue.

She felt like she was going to snap; why would he make some dramatic scene about being the one she wanted to ask to the movies if he was just going to ignore her? Chiyo was of no use to her. About half-way through the movie the brave girl had reached a hand out to the white-haired chunibiyo and they had been holding hands ever since. They didn't look at each other, but both had matching blushes. Kokomi felt her anger at Saiki fading, becoming replaced by happiness for her friend. _I'm not going to ruin this for Chiyo-chan… If Saiki wants to keep playing games with me then he can play them by himself._

With that thought, Kokomi kept her face trained on the screen for the rest of the boring movie earning herself another chuckle from Saiki.

* * *

Kokomi eyed her reflection in the bathroom speculatively. _What does he not see? _She wondered to herself idly picking up a strand of her smooth blue hair. She ran her hands through her hair fluffing it up even though every strand was perfectly in place as they always were. Next, she brushed her fingers against her cheeks; they were smooth and without flaw. Her lips were naturally pink and pouty with just chapstick. Her eyes lowered to inspect her outfit, which of course complimented her body shape.

_It just doesn't make any sense. _Her eyes were bright, her skin glowing, her body attractive, her voice soothing, her perfume light, her teeth white, and yet she wasn't enough for him. Kokomi swallowed and gripped the edge of the bathroom rink with white-clenched fingers. Her throat flexed reflectively- trying to swallow the rise of familiar insecurity and bile.

_I am the perfect pretty girl. _She glared at the mirror, her nails pressing up against stale porcelain. _I am the perfect pretty girl. _Cold sweat ran down her back. _I am the perfect pretty girl. I am the perfect pretty girl… so why doesn't he want me? _

Next to her a toilet flushed- Chiyo would be coming out soon. Kokomi straightened up and reached for a few paper towels to wipe her clammy hands, a pleasant smile crawling across her face.

"Thanks for waiting Kokomi." Chiyo said coming up to the sink to wash her hands.

"Oh, I wasn't waiting long." The blue-hair girl said, throwing away the paper towels- façade almost complete again.

"What did you think of the movie?"

"I loved the main actors and the soundtrack." Kokomi said lying easily. Chiyo nodded and rummaged through her bag for her lip gloss. "Were you comfortable in the movie?" She teased.

Chiyo flushed and swatted her hand at her companion. "I don't know what you're talking about Kokomi-chan."

"It looked like you were pretty comfortable to me," She shrugged. "Maybe I _didn't _see you holding hands with Kaido-kun."

"Maybe you did see that." Chiyo said with a smirk. "I told you dark movie theaters were for making moves. Speaking of, did anything happen between you and Saiki-kun?"

"You know Saiki-kun." Kokomi said with a casual smile. _Even though she's a friend I just can't break my act. _

"He's crazy though. He has to be faking it." Chiyo sighed, moving back to look at both of their reflections in the bathroom mirrors.

She ran her hands over her new dress that the girls had bought during their mall trip. It was a soft pink with a sweetheart neckline and hugged her thicker curves. She paired it with a jean jacket and flats. Overall, Kokomi thought that it was a cute outfit but not one that she would wear.

"I wish I had a body like yours." Chiyo said, her eyes roaming over to Kokomi's reflection. "If I looked more like you I'm sure that Kaido-kun and I would already be dating."

Kokomi ignored the sudden sharp spike in her heart and responded on instinct with the expected platitudes. Chiyo waved her off. "I'm just saying. I know I can't be you. Can't stop a girl from dreaming though." She laughed moving towards the exit. "Must be nice to be the idol of PK Academy."

"You give me too much credit." Kokomi said softly moving behind her friend toward the exit. She shot another look at her reflection as they moved past the mirrors.

The perfect pretty girl wasn't looking back at her.

* * *

Kokomi and Saiki sat next to each other on the train hide back to his house in silence again. Chiyo and Kaido had been in good spirits when they waved them off at the station. She had been all-smiles then, not wanting her classmates to see that she was upset.

Around Saiki the mask crumbled against her will. The movie had gotten out later than she was used to staying up. As a result, their train car was empty except for them and she was in a bad mood.

_Well there's a lot of reasons I'm in a bad mood. _She thought to herself, blood beginning to rise with her anger.

Saiki still hadn't said anything to her. To him, it appeared that his dramatic 'I didn't think you wanted me' scene never happened- nor his messing with her during the movie. He was a perfect ice man, staring absently at his phone which she now had the number to. _Jerk._

Would he offer to walk her home at this hour? No. He wouldn't. She already knew that, being the _jerk_ he was, but he would because his parents would make him if they were still awake. She didn't want to be his _obligation _\- she wanted to be his _want_. Or whatever the word was she was too mad to think.

She tapped her feet angrily and chewed on the inside of her lip. _Say something you butt._ Saiki's lips quirked up at something amusing on his phone, but he didn't turn to acknowledge her.

_This has been a disaster._ She thought, fisting her hand into her pea coat. _At first I was feeling sorry for him being forced to come and now I wish he never came. This is horrible… maybe I shouldn't have even gone with Chiyo-chan… but then Kaido-kun wouldn't have come and I don't want to disappoint her. Guess I should have asked another guy from class… maybe Hairo-kun? _

Saiki twitched next to her stirring her from her thoughts. He turned his phone off and turned to Kokomi, who straightened up expectantly.

'_Did you enjoy the movie?'_ He asked in that ventriloquist manner of his. Kokomi huffed on the inside but forced a kind smile on her face since he was actually talking to her.

She underestimated her anger when responding.

"No, I hated it really." She said sweetly. Saiki's eyebrows rose at her honesty, and her heart sank. _I didn't mean to say that! _She clapped a hand over her mouth and turned away mortified.

'_That's unexpected.' _He said. Kokomi flushed and her other hand joined to hide her face more. _'They chose such a good movie after all. I don't know how it wasn't movie of the year.'_

Kokomi peaked at him from between her fingers. Saiki's face was still neutral, but his eyes held a spark of mischief. "You didn't like it either?"

He scoffed and crossed his legs. _'Wizard aliens try to run a pizzeria while defending the city? Please, I have higher tastes than that.'_

"What are your tastes then?" She asked her anger fading. Saiki paused, seeming to weigh some options in his head before responding.

'_I like movies that aren't really popular… I don't really like knowing what happens before I get to see it for myself. I like mysteries too and movies that make you think and feel something.'_

"I like mysteries too. I don't usually like movies too much- some of the actors are just horrible."

'_Worse when you know them, eh?' _he asked with a quirk of his lips. Kokomi laughed and shook her head.

"Yeah, they say you should never meet your heroes." She fiddled with her fingers and looked up at the now interested Saiki through her lashes. "I prefer books to be honest, I like to immerse myself in the story."

'_I can understand that.'_ Saiki said turning away, thinking about something that she wasn't privy to.

"Do you like to read, Saiki-kun?" She asked, inching closer. Saiki's eyes flickered down, noticing her movement but didn't say anything or increase their distance. Kokomi, in turn, noticed this.

'_Sometimes… if they're underground. No spoilers that way.' _His hand came to rest on his thigh that was closet to her. Her eyes tracked the movement and his eyes tracked hers.

Kokomi felt a strange tension begin to coil in her spine even though the subject matter they were talking about was relatively benign.

"I have some books I could lend you then… if you wanted to. Sometimes my parents bring me back things from over-seas. I doubt anyone in our class is reading foreign books so they should be un-spoiled for you." She scooted a little closer to him. "Why don't you like spoilers Saiki-kun?"

'_I like to experience things for myself.' _She caught an undertone to his words but wasn't sure if he meant to put it there after his behavior the rest of the night. _'Having someone relate the experience to me isn't the same.'_

"You can't feel what someone else feels." Kokomi said in agreement, placing her hand on her own thigh so that their two hands were inches apart. She felt like she could feel the body heat radiating off Saiki even though they weren't touching.

'_Something like that.'_ He said his tone sounding much older than he was. _'Sometimes you can get what someone is thinking and feeling pretty well.' _His eyes lit up as if he were telling a joke, but Kokomi didn't get it. She was much more focused on his hand near hers and the strange tension in her body.

She should be mad; this boy was ignoring her for whole night and then he thinks everything is gravy again because he was finally showing her attention?

Saiki's hand shifted closer to hers.

_Damn him he's right. _She thought moving her hand closer as well.

"What am I thinking then?" Her heart pounded. Could he tell what she was thinking?

Behind his glasses, Saiki's eyes glanced at her hand, then crossed up to her arm, which lead to her shoulder, to her neck, to her chin, to her lips- before coming to a rest on her nervous eyes. They were dark, a spark of mischief still present but revealing nothing to her. She straightened her fingers, trying to make her hand look more appealing as stupid as it sounded. Would he hold it like Kaido held Chiyo's? Or would he do something… more?

The teen adjusted his body, moving his hand from his thigh to rest on the back of the cushion of the train bench. He leaned closer, his eyes bearing down on to hers. Kokomi swallowed, a blush rising on her cheeks at his scrutiny. The train was empty, but she didn't think she'd notice if a hundred people just got on.

"W-What are you doing?" Her voice coming out as a whisper.

'_Isn't it obvious?' _He deadpanned. _'I'm trying to read your thoughts.'_

"You must not be very good if it's taking this long." She quipped, trying to diffuse the tension between them.

'_Maybe you're hard to read.' _The boy replied.

_Maybe I am_, she thought; her perfect pretty girl persona coming to mind. Her mind instantly flashed back to her near-breakdown in the bathroom (near breakdown because she couldn't and wouldn't ever breakdown). Saiki's eyes softened, and he leaned closer to Kokomi but in a comforting matter.

'_I think you're regretting spending money on that movie.'_ She laughed. Saiki continued encouraged by her smile. _'And you're thinking of all the cookies you're going to make.'_

"Oh, I am?" The blue-haired girl asked amused.

'_Yes you are.' _

"Is that all I'm thinking about?" Saiki looked at her for a beat then lowered his arm back down.

'_No, it's not.'_ His voice sounded tense; the rapid mood changes confusing Kokomi.

"What else am I thinking about then Saiki-kun?" She glanced up at the sign showing where the train was; they would be near the stop for his house soon.

'_I'm not sure I should say.'_

"That sounds like you don't know." Kokomi said, checking the time on her phone and secretly adding his number to her contact list.

'_I know.'_

"You don't." Saiki turned to look at her again, a hard look in her eyes. Kokomi stared back undeterred by his look, boys often raised their hackles when challenged by a girl.

Kokomi wasn't one to back down.

'_I do, Teruhashi-san.'_ He said without breaking eye contact. She knew he was asking her to drop it. She also knew that if she did, he would go back to ignoring her like he did for the rest of the night and she had enough of that.

"Prove it then."

And he did.

In one swift motion, he turned to her and swooped his arms up to gently grab both sides of her face. He tilted her head back and slanted his lips perfectly over her own. _My first kiss_ she thought weakly as Saiki shifted again slanting his leg between hers. Kokomi's eyes slid closed and she raised her arms up to hold onto his shoulders- the movement feeling natural.

Her heart was racing. He was kissing her? Saiki Kusuo, the ice king, was kissing her? Why was he kissing her? Did he like her? Was Chiyo right? Was he faking it all this time? She felt her blood sing in her veins. Could he hear her heart? Was she doing this right? She pushed her lips against his- which were softer than she expected. She shifted, brushing her bare leg against his thigh.

Suddenly she felt the train jerk and Saiki pulled away from her. His cheeks looked flushed, but she couldn't tell since he was turning away from her and covering his mouth with his sleeve. She turned, dazed, and saw that the train doors were open to the stop for his house.

_How did that happen? _She thought. _We were still three stops away…_

"This is our stop." Saiki said standing up. His voice sounded different than usual, and he seemed flustered. _I guess the kiss affected him too._ She idly wondered why she wasn't freaking about Saiki kissing her, the perfect pretty girl, but she was probably in shock and would freak out later in private.

Instead she asked, "How did the train move so fast?"

"I don't know." Saiki said quickly. "It's late come on." His voice sounded rough and scratchy- which Kokomi decided that she liked.

She got up and followed Saiki to his house, but he didn't mention the kiss again. She knew he was thinking about it, how could he not? Was she his first kiss too? What did this mean for them now? Was he just messing with her? It was all she could think about.

Saiki held the door open for her when they reached his house, and she relished the wave of warmth she felt from him when she moved past him. She quickly found and collected her precious cat, who was very pleased to be rescued from the 'wooing' delivered to her from Amp.

Kokomi personally wouldn't mind more wooing, but Saiki seemed jittery and on edge. Was he regretting the kiss?

She looked up at him expectantly from outside his door. Saiki shifted his weight from one leg to another.

"Do you regret kissing me?" She blurted out. Saiki looked up surprised, but also like he was expecting the question.

"No." He said, looking at the floor. She breathed out relieved and perplexed at how she could now notice his lips moving when he spoke. Was she just hyper aware of them now?

"Get home safe." Saiki said. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." He shut the door before Kokomi could say anything else. She frowned and turned away. _Looks like I was right about not being walked home. _

"He's so mercurial isn't he darling?" She asked Mika. Mika chirruped in response. "But I guess that's why we like him don't we?" Kokomi sighed happily and looked up at the stars. _Thank you God for encouraging me._ A shooting start shot across the sky in response.

"Well Mika, I suppose we will be cooking some cookies tonight. Somewhere inside Saiki Kusuo is a teenage boy who is love with me… we just have to drag it out of him." Kokomi smiled victoriously feeling a new battle between them starting. Getting him to say "oh wow" wasn't going to cut it anymore.

He was going to have to tell her that he loved her… and kiss her more of course.

When the beautiful girl got home, she saw that her phone had several unread text messages. She must not have noticed with all the excitement on the train. She had the expected ones from Chiyo and her family, but what caught her eye was a new one from a recently added number.

"You looked nice tonight." She read aloud. Kokomi flushed and held her phone to her heart- falling onto her bed dramatically. Mika jumped up next to Kokomi and began to purr, licking her fur to clean herself of the unruly street cat.

"How did he know my phone number Mika?"

**Time to Incident 159:12:42**

* * *

[A/N] thank you for waiting for this installment! I got a bit busy with work, and I was also re-working how I wanted the story to flow in my head. The story is going to be speeding up from this point forward, the beginning chapters were more of a set-up for the rest of the story. Also, I've changed the summary of the story since I didn't think that it really reflected the story that I wanted to write.

Thank you for reading!


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